Annotation:Shakin's o' the Pocky (The)

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X:1 T:Shakin's o' the Pocky, The C:James Scott Skinner and Peter Milne B:Skinner - Miller o' Hirn Collection (1881, p. 55) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion M:C L:1/16 K:Bb B3DF3G FD3 B,3A|B3A .G.A.B.c d6 d2|e3cd3B cA3 B3G| FD3 {D}B3D {D}C4-C3D|B.3DF3G FD3 B,3A|B3A .G.A.B.c d6 d2| e3cd3B c3AB3G|(GF).E.D (FE).D.C (B,4 B,2)||f2|{a}b3f dB3 ge3 c3a| {a}b3f (ed)cB f6 a2|b3f dB3 ge3c3B|A3B (cf3) [D4B4]- [D3B3]a| b3f dB3 ge3 c3a|{a}b3f (ed).c.B (f4 f3)e|d3Be3c (dc)BA {A}B3G|(GF).E.D (FE).D.C (B,4 B,2)||

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J. Scott Skinner

SHAKIN’S O' THE POCKY, THE. Scottish, Strathspey (whole time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by biography:J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927), in collaboration with Peter Milne (1824-1908) of Tarland; it first appears in Skinner's Miller o' Hirn Collection (1881, p. 55). Milne, a great strathspey player equally at home with classical music, gave Skinner his first lessons in playing strathspeys, but had the misfourtune to become an opium addict after taking medicinal laudanum to relieve pain from an injury. He deteriorated, and finally was reduced to busking for change on the ferries that travelled from Queensferry and Burntisland. When the Forth Bridge (road bridge) was built even this income ended and he returned to Aberdeen, where he died, an invalid (Alburger, 1983). The title refers to a time when Milne and Skinner, both impoverished, had to pool their meagre resources together just to afford the price of one dram (pocky means a bag, especially a beggar’s bag for meal). "The Shakin's o' the Pocky" is also a Scottish expression meaning the smallest pig in a litter, or the smallest child in a family. According to Paul Cranford, the tune has been a favorite of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster.

Peter Milne